1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for network communication, and more particularly, to a system and method for processing legacy radio signals.
2. Background
Aircrafts (or other transport systems) are monitored by a central network computing system located at a network operation center (“NOC”). It is desirable for the NOC to have a global view of various aircrafts (military and/or commercial), whether grounded or in air. Hence, it is important for transport systems (e.g. aircrafts) to efficiently receive and process plural data inputs.
In the past, multiple single-band radio systems have been used for communication between transport units and NOCs. Such radio systems (referred to as “legacy radio” systems), are often incompatible with each other and with modern radio systems.
The U.S. Department of Defense has created radio system designs, such as the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) to provide Internet Protocol (IP) radio interfaces for modern and legacy platforms. However, these systems require expensive retrofit programs and development of new avionics software.
Conventional systems process inputs from plural radio links using custom software/hardware interfaces. Every time a new link is added to an aircraft, new application specific hardware/software is needed to process data inputs.
Conventional military systems do not have enabling web (or Internet) service software technologies to facilitate data sharing between incompatible networks. Without standard software interfaces, a legacy radio digital link would require extensive application/platform specific software so that information can be exchanged between one platform/network to another (i.e. for machine-to-machine interface). The lack of this machine-to-machine interface for legacy systems has largely prohibited these dissimilar systems/networks from rapidly sharing information among themselves and others.
Conventional systems do not provide an integrated solution that can efficiently process data inputs from legacy radio links. Also, especially in aviation systems, securing communication is very important. Conventional systems are not able to categorize data inputs based on their security level and process them accordingly.
Therefore, what is desired is a method and system that can efficiently process data inputs from legacy radio links and/or other input sources.